Heat Death
by Thaumologist
Summary: From beyond our understanding, they bring our doom. Defenders rise and fall, thousands lost in each battle. But still, we endure. We fight. We die.


I woke.

Not to the gentle nuzzling of a sleepy wife, nor the muffled cries of child suffering from nightmares; but to the screeching wail of sirens. The earsplitting scream echoed back and forth, waking the entire city, before switching back to a countdown.

"ALL CITIZENS PLEASE PROCEED CALMLY AND DIRECTLY TO YOUR NEAREST SHELTER. THANK YOU."

The emotionless voice repeated itself twice, before switching back to the siren. At the earsplitting noise, I clenched my fingers in the bed covers, and started to pull them down. Her warm arm across my chest made me pause for a minute.

"I can't stay. It doesn't matter which one it is, I can help". She clenched tighter, her elbow digging into my ribs. "If I make a difference, can slow it down for just an instant, it could be the instant that saves you. That saves hundreds". Her arm loosened, and she rolled away from me. I leaned towards her, and brushed my lips against the top of her head. She doesn't respond.

"I'm sorry."

I slipped out of the bed, and padded downstairs. I couldn't face waking the children. Couldn't think of telling them I was going out to fight. To die. I wiped away tears, and opened the door.

The wind rustled, the breeze causing me to shiver in the slight chill, and I quickly rubbed off the light accumulation of sand. Even after this short time, I could feel the grains working their way against my body, catching in folds and creases. A momentary application of effort, and I was warm again, although the trees and bushes had iced over. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and pulled from the earth. I kept a tight grip on the heat, and drew it towards me, lifting the near-molten rock and coating myself. It wouldn't save me from a direct attack, no matter what was attacking, but maybe, maybe it would help. Either way, it served to identify me, and kept the chill off.

I'd take what comforts I could, in the time I could.

Walking in the baked rock was no harder than walking naked. Easier, perhaps, due to my powers. After so many years, it was almost subconscious, the effort required to shift the heat around to ensure I could continue to move. I didn't look over my shoulder as I left, family and burning footprints behind me.

Normal citizens split around me, like a river around a rock, and my progress was completely uninterrupted. Glowing pointers on the edges of the sirens pointed the way for the fighters, towards the beach.

So it was Him.

The Drowner.

Another ripple of power, and the rock around my face melted away, leaving only a few hefty bars to protect from debris. I'd need to breathe regardless, and I'd rather have this, with my vision mostly unobstructed, than the facade of safety a full mask would provide.

I didn't see any others making their way to the beach, only citizens fleeing to the relative safety of the bunkers. Not enough to stand up to his fury, but perhaps enough to survive an indirect attack.

Deliberately, I didn't think of my family.

An elder touched my shoulder as she passed, and muttered a blessing under her breath, but she too was swept away near-instantly. I smiled, despite the situation. I'd take whatever hope I could.

The shoreline was nearly deserted. I exchanged a short nod with some youngster in a flexible red costume, but didn't recognize any big names. They were just small-timers. No-namers.

Heroes, all of them. No matter their history. The fact they'd showed up...

But I couldn't focus on them now.

Instead, I sank into myself, pulling my power further to the surface, for ease during the coming fight. I could feel it spread, a warm blanket through my body, focusing in my head, and my limbs. I wrapped myself in it, and lost track of time, matching my heartbeat to the steady thrum. I lost myself in it, knowing this could well be the last chance I'd have to do so.

A rumble disrupted my thoughts, and I opened my eyes, staring across the ocean.

The stars were going out. From the horizon, and gradually moving up, the stars looked like they were dying.

I knew what it was - a wall of water, hundreds, thousands, of times higher than me. Pulled from the deep and brought to destroy the city; to seep through cracks and holes, crushing the defenders, and the city.

He had not counted on one thing.

This was MY city.

This was MY family.

And I would not be giving them up without a fight.

I raised my arms, and spread my fingers, coated in the black rock, and reached out to the wave. I sent my mind into it, spreading myself thinner and thinner, until I was everywhere, but almost nothing. I could feel it move close and closer, and I could spot Him within it. The water drew back from the beach, a hissing roar that grew louder and louder, covering the screams of those not quick enough to reach shelter.

His head moved, and I could feel His gaze on me. Six eyes, all glowing a virulent green, all matching His will against mine.

I drew my arms back, pulling the heat from the water, and the entire wave froze solid, a mountain of ice just a stone's throw from where I stood. I clenched my hand, drawing the energy to a single finger, before pointing out towards the ice.

The air between me and His eyes turned to plasma, burning purple and white afterimages into my eyes, but I kept it up, focusing on trying to destroy His face, on shattering His defenses.

It didn't work. Instead, I melted the ice, and He worked his way free.

The left side of His face was ruined, the middle eye gone, and the lower half of his face covered in molten slag from the melted remains of the rest, but He didn't seem hurt.

He didn't seem to have noticed.

I pulled again, drawing the energy back into myself, and solidifying what was left of His face, before casting out again, aiming for the tail, but He darted away, spraying water in His wake.

The others joined in, beams of various colours flickering out and spraying harmlessly on His skin. Thunderous booms from a placed turret rung out, the effects differing and dazzling, not the work of anyone I recognized, but He tore into it, ripping the handlers from their places, and the Engineer from her place at the rear.

A short crunch, and their screams died, before the encampment was swamped in another wave sprayed from his tail. He whirled again, the ice already melting and reforming into waves lapping from his feet, and more water joined the flow.

I pushed up my arm, halting the wave, and then quickly drew the heat from it, before pushing it out again, hoping that I could move him.

Despite the mass of water I'd halted, despite the heat I'd drawn out, the energy I redirected did nothing. He didn't even rock backwards.

The youngster threw his hands forward, and the air rippled between him and the Drowner.

But whatever it was that he'd hoped to accomplish, it didn't work. The Drowner turned instantly, diving underneath the ripple, and towards the caster.

I had a split-second, but then the wave of water crashed into my open facepla-

ACQUISITION?

"QUERY?"

INNOVATION

"CONCURRENCE"

ACQUISITION. REUSE. ADDITION.

"UNDERSTANDING"

AGREEMENT?

"AGREEMENT."

ACQUIRED.

It's cold when I wake.

The air around me does not hold the scent of anywhere familiar. I do not recognize it. I do not recognize the things that scurry around my feet. The air is the wrong colour, and only a single sun burns overhead.

I flex my fingers, and try to draw the rock away from them. The hard black shell does not move away. I try to scrape it off, but my attempts have no effect.

One of the things casts a bolt of viridian energy at me. In response, I set it to burn from the inside. With a flash, it disintegrates.

There's something there, ahead of me. Calling me. Drawing me. And behind that... The Drowner.

But this is not my home.

And this place will burn until I find it.


End file.
